Physics Major (B.A. or B.S.)

Our Physics major provides a rigorous grounding in fundamental physics,
fosters critical thinking and creative problem solving, and provides
broad practical training in science and technology. It is designed to
prepare students for advanced study in physics, engineering, or other
technical disciplines, for employment in industry, or for a teaching at
the secondary level.

The Physics major provides a rigorous grounding in fundamental physics,
fosters critical thinking and creative problem solving, and provides
broad practical training in science and technology. It is designed to
prepare you for advanced study in physics, engineering or other
technical disciplines, for employment in industry, or for teaching at
the secondary level. Physics graduates are in high demand in any area
where analytical thinking and problem solving are important, and our
students have also gone on to careers in computer programming, finance,
law, and medicine.

All physics majors complete a core of courses covering the foundations
of the discipline: classical mechanics, statistical mechanics and
thermodynamics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics. Electives allow
more specialized areas to be explored in greater detail, for example
condensed matter physics, particle physics, optics and general
relativity. In the advanced and electronics laboratories, you have
access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, and gain experience in
experimental design and data analysis.

You are also encouraged to participate in research with a faculty member, which, depending on interests, may start as early as the freshman year. Physics faculty members have active research programs in experimental atomic physics, experimental particle physics, and theoretical and computational particle physics. Experimental research is carried out in the Otterbein Atomic Physics lab and at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.